The Devil Inside: the abrupt ending feels like a slap in the face

The constant implication that the events of the film should be taken as reality is laughable, as it is hard enough to take seriously as fiction.

Suzan Crowley, left, and Fernanda Andrade in The Devil Inside.

Directors: William Brent Bell, Joaquin Perea
Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth
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The latest American "found footage" horror movie, stars Andrade as Isabella, a documentarian making a film about possession inspired by her mother's being institutionalised after apparently killing two people during an exorcism. Enlisting two priests to help research the phenomenon, she uncovers disturbing realities that led to her mother's hospitalisation, and the peril that lies in wait for her.

From the start the film looks rushed, quickly skipping through the set-up to barrage the viewer with unpleasant and often disturbing visuals that serve no purpose other than to cause repulsion. Attempting to cram together the better elements of The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project, the film's story is made up of a selection of isolated scenes loosely tied together and all featuring a repetitive and melodramatic possession.

Poor performances hammer home the fact that this is clearly a film thrown together to satisfy the current craze for Paranormal Activity-type horror that tries to shock you as many times as possible, rather than tell you a story. Overall, The Devil Inside is a film that surprises you only in how bad it continues to be over nearly 90 minutes.

The abrupt ending feels like a slap in the face, given that it offers little to no resolution for people who have patiently waded through the tepid plot in hope of some justification. The implication that the events should be taken as reality is laughable, as it is hard enough to take the film seriously as fiction.

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